A Miraculous Mess
by kazoquel4
Summary: When an injury connects the dots for Adrien, Ladybug and Chat Noir are forced to confront their identities and reconcile the two sides of each other.


**1**

There was nothing in the start of the day that could have hinted that extraordinary things were going to be set into motion.

It was Friday, and with the prospect of the weekend looming Marinette was in great spirits when she set off from home, croissant in hand. She waved goodbye to her parents, chewing on her pastry, and strolled along the sunny sidewalk. Even this early in the morning Marinette could tell that it was going to be a brilliant day, and since she had gotten a rare early start to school she was determined to enjoy it before being forced inside. She hoped that the weather would hold up for tomorrow's picnic.

As she rounded the corner her heart leapt at the thought of tomorrow. It had been Alya's idea to put together a small party to celebrate the encroaching warm weather. After months of constant Parisian drizzling they were entering the first sunny weeks of the year, and Alya had pounced on the excuse to plan a formal get-together, inviting along Nino and—Alya had been superbly proud of her foresight on this one— _Adrien._

Tomorrow was either going to be an immense success or a complete disaster, but either way she was excited to spend time with Adrian. Well, maybe excited wasn't exactly the right word. Terrified wasn't quite it either. Her feelings rested somewhere in the middle.

She was right on time to class, walking in just as the bell rang. She dropped the empty pastry bag in the rubbish bin by the door, brushed crumbs off her hands, and started for her seat. Everyone was already seated, and as she passed by Adrien and Nino's desk she blushed and determinedly looked away, slipping into her chair next to Alya.

"Hey, girl," her best friend greeted.

"Hi," Marinette said, setting her backpack on the desk. "Did you finish that worksheet?"

"You mean the busywork?" Alya rolled her eyes. "Of course I did, or Madame would kill me. I wouldn't be able to tell you what's on it, though. It's kind of a blur."

Marinette grinned and opened her bag, peeking in at Tikki, who was sleeping at the bottom. She shut it again as her professor walked into the room.

"Alright, everyone, settle down," she called. "Take out your homework and pass them to the front of the classroom, please."

Marinette pulled her paper out and looked up to hand it in, only to meet familiar green eyes. They puckered when their owner smiled.

"Morning, Marinette," Adrien said.

Marinette stared at him for a moment longer, her brain going blank. Then she realized what she was doing and forced a laugh that came out a nervous wheeze.

"Good morning, Adrien!" she said, her shoulders lifting into what she hoped was more of an energetic, endearing pose and less of a spasm.

There was an awkward silence, and then Adrien said, "Can I, uh, take your homework for you?"

"Can you what?"

"Your homework," Adrien said, glancing at the worksheet currently being crushed in Marinette's hand.

"My homework," Marinette repeated. Then it clicked, and she felt her cheeks flush. "Oh! Oh, my homework, you want—right, I should—here, I'm sorry, I didn't—"

"Thanks," Adrien said with a soft smile that made Marinette's heart flutter. Then he turned around and Marinette was left staring at the back of his head.

Her forced smile dropped, mortification spreading through her. She chanced a glance at Alya to find that her friend was already looking at her, pained sympathy etched onto her face. Alya just shrugged and smiled supportively.

"Oh my gosh," Marinette whispered. The hush of papers being passed forward masked her words. "I can't believe I just—"

"Chill, girl," Alya said, turning in her seat to accept the papers being passed forward, which she handed off to Nino without looking at him. "Don't freak."

"I want to crawl in a hole and die."

Alya chuckled. "It wasn't that bad." When Marinette shot her a look, she conceded, "Okay, it was pretty bad, but hey—just think about the picnic tomorrow. Happy thoughts."

Despite her embarrassment, Marinette smiled slightly as her best friend elbowed her. "Brilliant," she said, "more opportunities to embarrass myself."

"Or more opportunities to score with our resident heartthrob." Alya waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Shh!" Marinette hissed, glancing at the back of Adrien's head again. "Don't say that so—"

"Okay, today we are going to be continuing our discussion on the system of core-periphery," Madame said, holding the pile of papers. She set them on her desk and leaned back on it, scanning the classroom. "Can anyone tell me how this process affects third world countries?"

A few hands shot in the air around the classroom. As Alix answered the question, Marinette rested her chin on her fist and stared at Adrien's hair. The sun shining in through the window bounced off of it more effectively than if it were a mirror or a body of water. Coupled with his bright white shirt, he looked exactly like what Marinette thought an angel would look like. All he was missing were the wings. She tilted her head and smiled slightly at the idea of Adrien with wings. He would look amazing.

"Marinette, if you could afford to take some of your focus off of Mr. Agreste and devote a little bit of your brain power to the lesson, I would greatly appreciate it."

The entire class turned to look at her at Madame's words, even—Marinette's stomach clenched—Adrien. He turned in his seat and frowned up at her, confusion touching his eyes, but all Marinette could do was stare at the woman at the front of the room in horror. Madame was glaring at her, arms crossed. Behind her, Marinette heard a few people snickering. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Chloe openly smirking.

"Yes, Madame," she whispered, mortification inhibiting the strength of her voice.

Madame appraised her a moment longer before turning back to the chalkboard, which she had covered in hastily drawn diagrams while Marinette had been distracted.

Marinette kept her eyes fixed the board even as her blood pounded in her ears. She could feel Alya's eyes on her but couldn't bear to look at her friend right now. Every inch of her tingled with embarrassment and horror. _Madame just called her out for staring at Adrien in_ front of _Adrien, he was going to think she was a complete freak and Chloe was going to find some way to twist it into ammunition and the entire class was probably laughing at her and oh goodness was that whispering she heard they were talking about her and how weird she was and_ "Ouch!"

The last part was said aloud. Madame stopped drawing on the chalkboard and spun around, narrowed eyes searching the room for the source of the noise, but when she saw and heard nothing else she turned around again and resumed her work.

Marinette looked at Alya with a glare, her arm smarting from where the other girl had pinched her.

"What was that for?" she hissed.

"Are you okay?" Alya whispered back.

"Well, it hurt."

"I'm not talking about that, stupid."

Marinette turned to face the front of the classroom, not wanting to be called out again. Her cheeks still felt hot. Then a hand touched her arm and she glanced at Alya again; her friend's eyes were sympathetic behind her glasses.

"Relax," she mouthed.

Marinette took a bracing breath and then nodded. For the rest of the lesson she kept her eyes carefully fixed on Madame, and when the bell for morning break rang she darted out of her seat, muttered something about the restroom to Alya, and scurried out of the room before Chloe or Adrien could say anything.

Out in the hall, she took a moment to pause and take a deep breath. Her heartbeat had slowed, but she still felt a little bit shaky. She hated being called out in front of the class on a good day, but when it was pointed out explicitly that the cause of her distraction was Adrien Agreste, the one person Marinette was determined would never know about her crush on him—well, she was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to truly relax for the rest of the day.

And she had to face him at the picnic tomorrow. The day was off to a wonderful start.

"Marinette?"

Marinette spun around so quickly she stumbled and nearly lost her balance. When she righted herself she blanched.

"Adrien!" she said.

The boy slipped out of the classroom and shut the door behind him. He turned to her with a look of concern.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Me?" Marinette squeaked. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I was just, uh, going to the restroom. You know—bladders, haha."

Her heart sank lower as Adrien raised his eyebrows. She clamped her mouth shut, figuring it was time that she stopped saying words out loud in front of Adrien.

"Right," he said, taking her freakishness in stride. "I just wanted to make sure. I know it's really hard getting called out in class, so I wanted to check up on you."

Marinette doubted that he actually understood what she was feeling (at least, she was praying desperately that he didn't); she doubted that he had ever been called out in front of anyone before. He was too perfect and well-behaved and _good_ for that.

Remembering her vow to stop speaking, she just nodded, hoping her lips weren't quivering when she smiled.

Adrien's eyes lit up again when he smiled and Marinette bit her lip to hold in an appreciative sigh.

"Good," he said. "Well, I'll let you—"

A resounding _boom_ interrupted him. Both teens jumped and turned to the window that overlooked the school courtyard. Marinette's blood ran cold as she caught sight of a huge figure stomping through the front doors, which had been knocked down in a cloud of dust that obscured the approaching shape.

The word slipped out instinctually. "Akuma," she said, inwardly cursing her luck. Today just wasn't her day.

"Another one," Adrien murmured next to her.

Marinette glanced at him. He was glaring out the window, his expression alarmingly un-Adrien-like. Marinette rarely saw any negative emotions from him, but she knew what he was talking about. There had been another attack only two days ago, and although it had been easy for Ladybug and Chat Noir to take it down, there was normally more space between Akuma attacks. Hawkmoth was certainly keeping them on their toes.

"I have to go," they both said at the same time.

They turned to look at each other, mirroring each other's surprise. There was a moment of silence, and then Adrien said, "You need to get back inside."

There was another roar from the courtyard.

"I need to go to the restroom," Marinette said, her instincts screaming at her to transform and jump down there before anyone got hurt. She bounced on the balls of her feet and said, "You should go back into class."

"You are not going anywhere right now, there's a monster out there!"

At any other time Marinette would have been a stuttering mess at those words, but even her surprised admiration of Adrien's hidden authoritative side was easily repressed as another roar shook the hallway.

The classroom door was flung open and suddenly their classmates were pouring out, chattering in confusion and fear. A few people shouted when they saw the monster in the courtyard, who was stomping around and generally making a mess of things.

"Adri-kins!" Chloe Bourgeois pushed Marinette aside and threw herself into the startled blonde's arms. Her eyes were wide with fake fear. "Oh, there you are! I was so worried when I heard that horrid beast and you weren't there—"

"Yeah—Chloe, I need to—"

Marinette wanted to stay and laugh at the way Adrien was trying to squeeze out of Chloe's tentacle-like grip, but she knew that this was a chance she couldn't pass up. Sliding easily through the gathering crowd, she broke free and sprinted off down the hallway, praying that no one had seen her disappear. Her absence wouldn't be noticed in all the chaos.

Rounding the corner, she pressed herself against the wall and waited. A second later Tikki was at her shoulder, panting from her flight from Marinette's backpack.

"There you are," Marinette said. "Are you ready?"

"Let's do this," Tikki said, her tiny face puckered with determination.

"Tikki, spots on!"

Marinette felt the familiar rush through her body, the slight tingling that told her the transformation was taking place. Despite the dire situation she threw her head back and laughed as the change spread through her whole body, and then Ladybug was standing in the hallway, her limbs still wonderfully warm.

"Okay," she said, "let's go."

Her classmates were still crowded in the hallway trying to vie for a spot at the window when she arrived. It took them only seconds to see her, and then she had an entire classful of teenagers shouting at her.

"Quiet!" she called, holding up her hand. Silence spread immediately. "Everyone needs to get back in the classroom now. No one wander off; I'll be able to contain the beast to the courtyard, but I don't want anyone to get in the way and get hurt, alright?"

The crowd surged again, this time towards the door. They shoved past one another, excitement and terror charging their conversations. Ladybug watched to make sure every one of them got in and then turned away.

She was surprised to see that one person lingered in the hallway, hesitance written on his face. Ladybug's heart jumped, but she shook it off. She was a hero right now, and she couldn't afford to fall prey to her usual nerves.

"Is something wrong?" she asked Adrien.

"Huh?" The boy blinked at her, looking so adorably concerned she had to struggle to not start stammering at him. "Oh, no, I just—"

"You need to get inside," Ladybug said, stepping aside and gesturing towards the open door. Inside, the rest of the class was huddled against the far wall. Ladybug could see Alya with her phone out and rolled her eyes fondly. Always filming.

"But I need to—"

There was another roar, and Ladybug lost her footing as the entire hallway shook. She glanced down into the courtyard to see it fairly destroyed, the monster stomping over the destroyed concrete. She couldn't wait any longer.

"Go," she said with more authority. "Now!"

Adrien hesitated a moment longer before darting past her into the classroom. Ladybug shut the door with a tight click and then tore down the hall to the stairwell, pulling out her yo-yo as she did.

"Hey!" she shouted as she skidded into the courtyard. Clouds of thick dust obscured her ground-level vision, so she kept her eyes lifted to the huge monster. Now that she was closer she could see it was a humanoid creature with dark green scaly skin, reaching at least seven feet tall. Each of its limbs were swollen at the ends, resulting in hands and feet the size of small boats, perfect for crushing things.

It swung to her, its beady little eyes finding her despite all the dust it had kicked up in its destruction. It opened its mouth, revealing horribly yellow teeth, and shouted a throaty yell that swept aside some of the clouds.

"I am the Destructor!" it screamed. It lifted its foot and stomped, and Ladybug threw out a hand to steady herself as the ground shook. "No longer will I let people destroy my dreams—I will destroy _them_ before they do! RA!"

Ladybug had a split second to dive as the fist came down towards her head. She curled her body into a ball as she hit the broken ground several feet away, hitting it at a roll that should have been easy to spring up from. The reverberations from the Akumatized monster's hand meeting the ground, however, threw her off and she lost her footing, falling flat on her face. She felt a sharp pain on her cheek but was on her feet within seconds.

"Ladybug!"

She turned and relief flooded her body at the sight of a familiar black body swinging down from the balcony. He landed next to her in a crouch and stood up, narrowed eyes fixed on the monster, which shouted anew at the new arrival.

"Quite a situation you've gotten yourself into, isn't it?" he asked.

"Only because you took so long to show up," Ladybug shot back.

"I was withheld," Chat said. He turned to her with a smirk that died immediately. "You're bleeding!" he said in horror.

Ladybug raised her hand to her cheek. It stung when she touched it.

"It's just a cut, kitty," she assured him. "I'll let you put a band-aid on it after we de-Akumatize the situation."

"Would a kiss make it better?" Chat asked cheekily, twirling his baton in his hand.

"Probably," Ladybug said, smirking back. "I'll have to go find someone to smooch."

Chat blinked. "Hey, I—watch it!"

He sprang, wrapping his arms around her torso and sending both of them flying to the side as a gigantic fist crashed down on the spot they had just been standing in. They landed hard on the cracked ground in a tangle of limbs, rolling for another few feet before coming to a stop. Ladybug felt a weight on her chest and opened her eyes, blinking through the dust to see Chat on top of her, panting. His eyes were roving her face as though worried he would find more blood there.

They locked eyes, blue on green, and for a moment they laid there, Ladybug conscious of every point of contact between their bodies, heart beating wildly in her chest.

Then another roar shook them off of each other. Chat leapt up and offered a hand to Ladybug, who took it and pulled herself to her feet, eyes scanning the situation again.

"We need to stop him before he tears the school down," she said, watching as the Destructor punched a wall, raining plaster and chunks of cement on him with a tremendous crash.

"Any ideas?"

The Destructor charged again and they were forced to split up. Ladybug darted around the side of the creature, yo-yo out and spinning, and leaped over a chunk of dislodged cement.

"They told me I would never be an actor!" shouted the scaly beast. "They stomped all over my dreams—I'll stomp on them!"

"Dude, you need to chillax!" Chat jumped into a back-spring to avoid getting crushed, then rolled aside to avoid yet another fist.

While the Destructor was distracted with her partner, Ladybug frantically looked him over, trying to find anything that could hold an Akuma. Her eyes were drawn to a glint of gold at his neck, and she realized it was a necklace. When he turned to aim another hit at Chat she saw what it was and shouted, "Chat, the locket!"

His eyes flicked upwards and a cheshire-like grin spread across his face. He dove aside to avoid the foot that came flying and rolled to a stop a few feet from her.

"Nice!" he said. "Glad you _spotted_ that one!"

Ladybug just rolled her eyes. "We need to reach it," she said, the ground shaking underneath her. "But how are we supposed to get in range without getting crushed?"

"You already charm me every day, m'lady," Chat said, clutching his baton tightly and crouching down to watch the Destructor like a cat watching his prey. "But perhaps you have something for him as well?"

"Right," Ladybug said, her fingers tight on her yo-yo. "Cover me."

"Always, m'lady. Hey, Destructor! Tell me more about how bad of an actor you are!"

As the beast yelled angrily behind her Ladybug flung her yo-yo into the air, shouting, "Lucky Charm!" There was a bright flash and suddenly an object fell into her hands. She blinked. "A megaphone?" What use was that going to be against a reptilian monster with a penchant for hitting things? She had been hoping for a shield or something.

"Uh, Ladybug?" She spun around to see Chat pressed against a corner of the courtyard, baton out and pointed at the Destructor advancing on him. His feet were squared, but Ladybug knew that if he were attacked he would have very few options for escape.

Holding tightly to the megaphone in one hand, Ladybug spun her yo-yo in the other and sprinted for the Destructor. With a loud shout she jumped up and let it fly, hitting the villain in the back of the head. It wasn't enough to make him stumble, but it was enough to distract him; the Destructor spun on her with a roar that showcased each and every one of his terribly unhygienic teeth.

"Oh," Ladybug said as he started stomping towards her, realizing that she hadn't thought this far into her plan. She turned and ran for the other end of the courtyard, trying to keep out of range of any limbs.

After a minute more of dodging gaping holes in the ground and flying hands and feet she finally met up with Chat again. They fell into step together, well ahead of the Destructor.

"Any ideas on how that's supposed to help?" Chat panted, leaping over a piece of debris.

"Not yet!" Ladybug skirted a hole. She heard a beeping in her ear and realized that she had only minutes before she transformed back into Marinette. "We need to fix this quickly."

They ground to a halt and turned around, respective weapons at the ready. The Destructor was still on the other side of the courtyard, so Ladybug assumed she had a little bit of time to think up a plan—but that was when the creature picked up a piece of concrete about the size of a car and hurled it in their direction.

Fear struck every nerve in her body. She got ready to run, but beside her Chat snarled, his face screwed up, and shouted, "Cataclysm!" As his claws bubbled with dark energy he leapt at the piece of rock, meeting it halfway, and struck it. The rock exploded into a harmless powder and Chat dropped back to the ground.

"Now we really need to wrap this up!" he called back. Ladybug's earrings beeped again. She was down to three minutes.

She looked around the courtyard and was suddenly struck by a plan. She smiled and readjusted her grip on the megaphone.

"Chat!" she shouted. "Distract him!"

"Will do, m'lady!"

As Chat darted around the other side of the Destructor and drew its attention, Ladybug whipped her yo-yo up to the balcony. Tugging on the string to ensure it was tight, she jumped and let the weapon send her flying through the air. She reached out and caught the metal of the railing, finding her footing, and turned to look back at the ground, now elevated far above the courtyard.

Pressing the button on the megaphone and raising it to her mouth, she said, "Hey, Destructor! You're never going to be an actor!"

Her amplified voice rang through the yard. The Destructor stopped midswipe and turned, an almost confused expression on the reptilian face.

"That's right!" Ladybug shouted. "You don't have the talent or the skill! You're going to be a total loser forever!"

The Destructor tilted his head back and released a guttural yell that shook the railing and almost made Ladybug lose her grip. She tightened her hand and held on as the Destructor charged toward her, stopping just below her and reaching up one scaly, oversized hand to grab at her. She tensed, ready to jump away, but it was unnecessary; he couldn't reach her.

Pressing the button again, she taunted, "You'll never reach me—I'm just like your dreams!"

The Destructor screamed. His fingers wiggled as he strained and jumped, trying to swat her. His hands brushed the balcony once but it wasn't enough to grab onto.

Below, Ladybug could see Chat darting around the debris at the Destructor's feet, eyes fixed on the locket, but turned away from him before the Destructor could notice where her attention was. She raised the megaphone and said, "Years from now, when people think of you, all they'll see is a loser who couldn't even find his big break."

The Destructor strained, trying to grab onto her foot, but at that moment Chat leapt, his fingers closing around the locket and his feet coming up to push himself off of the creature's chest. It stumbled back and yelled as Chat bounced off of him, tearing the necklace from the Destructor's neck and landing easily. Before the villain could right itself he dropped the jewelryand brought the heel of his shoe down on it. The metal shattered. A black butterfly fluttered out.

As it floated up Ladybug dropped the megaphone and whirled her yo-yo, holding onto the rail with her free hand. "Time to de-evilize!" She captured the Akuma and purified it, released the now white animal with a smile and a whispered, "Bye-bye, little Akuma."

Chat was leaning on his staff when she dropped beside him. He tipped his head at her, grinning broadly. "Nice thinking, m'lady," he said.

"Not too bad yourself," she said with her own smile. She tossed her yo-yo into the air and shouted, "Miraculous Ladybug!"

All at once a sweep of energy shot through the courtyard and everything righted itself. The ground was fixed, debris and dust cleaned up, and the Destructor was returned to a tiny man huddled in the repaired courtyard, shoulders shaking and head bowed.

Ladybug offered her fist to Chat, who accepted it with a proud, "Pound it!"

Her earrings gave her the one-minute warning. She glanced reluctantly at the man shivering on the ground, unwilling to leave without making sure he was alright. Chat followed her gaze and said, "I'll take care of him, m'lady. You need to get out of here—and clean up that cheek, alright?"

"Alright," Ladybug said with a smile. "See you around, kitty."

She whipped out her yo-yo and turned to throw it back up at the balcony, but stopped when her partner said, "Wait!" She turned around and was startled when he grabbed her wrist and tugged her forward, leaning in to plant a quick kiss on her uninjured cheek.

"Saving you the trouble of having to find someone," he said, pulling away with a smirk. Then he was gone, taking off to check on the victim.

Ladybug stood there a minute longer, mind blank, cheek tingling where his lips had touched it. Then she shook herself off and threw her yo-yo, lifting herself back up onto the balcony.

The classroom door was still shut, so Ladybug was able to run past it and round the corner she had transformed at. Just as she reached the safety of the hidden alcove her earrings beeped and she felt the rush of de-transformation spread over her.

"Great job, Marinette!" Tikki said, floating in front of her. The kwami's expression was tired but pleased.

"You too, Tikki," Marinette said, smiling.

"Chat was right," Tikki said, cocking her head. "Your cheek doesn't look very good. You should clean it up before heading back in."

"Good thinking," Marinette said. "Come on."

Tikki settled on her shoulder as Marinette slipped into the girl's restroom. She glanced at herself in the mirror and winced at all the blood. It wasn't a deep cut and barely even hurt, but it had been steadily bleeding throughout the battle.

"Two Akuma attacks in the space of a few days," she said, grabbing a piece of paper towel and wetting it. She started dabbing at the area around the cut, washing off the dried blood. "They're getting more frequent."

"Yes," Tikki said. She was curled up on the edge of the sink, eyes shut, but Marinette knew the kwami was still listening to her. "You'll have to be on your toes."

"When am I not?" Marinette swiped under her eye and grabbed a fresh sheet of paper towel.

"A superhero's job is never complete."

"Don't I know it." Marinette chuckled and dried up her cheek. She left the actual cut untouched, figuring that she needed medical supplies to tackle that one. "How does that look? Super obvious?"

Tikki peeked open an eye. "No," she said. "You can just say you tripped."

"I'm sure everyone will believe it," Marinette sighed. "I'm such a mess, Tikki."

"You're not a mess!" Tikki sat up. "You just saved your entire class, not to mention all of Paris!"

"And before that I completely embarrassed myself in front of Adrien—three times!" Marinette turned and leaned back against the sink, sighing. "He probably thinks I'm a total loser. And I have to go to that stupid picnic with him tomorrow—ugh!"

"You're not a loser, Marinette," Tikki said. Despite her exhaustion she fluttered up to meet Marinette's eyes. "I'm sure Adrien thinks nothing but good things about you. You need to stop being so hard on yourself."

"I know," Marinette said. "I just… I wish I could get over him! I know nothing's going to happen, but I've never felt this way about anyone before." She thought about Chat's kiss. "Not even Chat Noir."

"Do you ever think you could give Chat a chance?" Tikki asked.

Marinette frowned. "I don't know," she said. "I mean, he's… he's so… I love him, I do, but I don't know if that's just platonic or if I could ever… you know. He's so different from Adrien, and after picturing myself with Adrien for so long it's hard to imagine being with someone like Chat."

"Maybe they aren't as different as you think."

Marinette snorted. "Chat Noir and Adrien are like cat and dog."

Tikki laughed. "Are you calling Adrien a dog?"

"An adorable, fluffy, little dog," Marinette said. She held open the pocket of her jacket and Tikki fluttered in, curling up at the bottom. "Maybe a Chihuahua, but much quieter. Come on, I need to get back before they arrange a search party."

The classroom door was still shut as she approached. Bracing herself, she pulled it open quietly, hoping to ease herself in, but it was no use. All of her classmates whirled to look at her as she entered.

"Marinette!" Marinette was practically tackled by Alya, who threw her arms around her and squeezed tightly. "There you are! We were all so worried about you!"

Marinette laughed a little and hugged her friend back. "I'm alright, Alya. I was in the restroom and when I saw what was going on I didn't want to risk coming back to the classroom. I just realized that it was all over."

"You missed Ladybug and Chat Noir!" Alya pulled back and looked at her friend, and that was when she realized Marinette was hurt. "Mari, what happened to your face?"

"I tripped," Marinette said, aware that several people were listening in on their conversation. She had to get this perfectly right. "I came out of the restroom and that thing was stomping around. It shook the balcony and I tripped. You know how clumsy I am."

"That's certainly true," Alya said, still examining the cut. Marinette inwardly sighed in relief when she pulled away, seemingly content with the lie. "I'll walk you home and you can clean it up there. Madame is releasing us for the day, but neither Adrien or you were back—"

"Adrien?" Marinette asked, heartbeat quickening in sudden fear. She had seen him go into the classroom, hadn't she? "But where—"

"It's alright, he showed up a minute or two ago," Alya said. "Said he went out looking for you and got stuck in the restroom too."

Marinette turned to look around the classroom, unwilling to relax until she saw him for herself. When she did catch sight of him he was standing with Chloe, who was hanging off of his arm in overdramatic horror. Nino hovered just behind him, looking annoyed.

Marinette was about to turn away when she realized Adrien was staring at her. She met his eyes and frowned at the expression on his face: complete shock and something else she couldn't place, something that disconcerted her. She turned away quickly.

"Alright, everyone," Madame said, calling the class to attention. "In light of the attack, I think it's best if you all went home for the day. I have no doubt that Ladybug and Chat Noir have controlled the situation, but I doubt any of you will be able to focus on your work. I'll see you on Monday."

A small cheer rippled through the crowd as everyone started gathering their things. Marinette walked over to her bag and bent down over it, her back to the classroom so she could transfer the sleeping Tikki from her pocket to her bag. Then she stood up and carefully slung it over her shoulder.

"Oh, Adri-kins," Chloe was saying nearby, "I was _so_ worried when I saw you weren't here! I realized it first of course—I was afraid you'd gotten hurt, or—or something even worse!"

Marinette rolled her eyes and turned around. Alya was waiting at the door, and she made a face at Marinette as she joined her.

"She's been like that ever since Adrien got back," she said as Marinette joined her. "Complete and utter crap, that's what it is. She didn't even notice he was gone, Nino did, and she sure as hell wasn't thinking about Adrien getting hurt. She was complaining about her hair."

Marinette chuckled and glanced over her shoulder again. The two blondes were still entwined, but Marinette didn't feel her usual jolt of jealousy; Adrien looked just as unhappy about the situation as Marinette did.

"Come on," Alya said, "we can go celebrate our trauma with chocolate croissants. Oh! You have _got_ to see the video I got of Ladybug and Adrien, you're going to _love_ it. You can't really hear what they're talking about, but it is some one on one interaction I'm sure you're going to appreciate. It's going up on the Ladyblog as soon as I can connect to some quality wifi."

Marinette allowed Alya to sweep her into a dramatic recount of the battle, which contained quite a few errors considering Alya had been inside the classroom the whole time. Marinette just had to nod and look appreciatively stunned whenever Alya said something that might have surprised her had she not been one of the participants of the fight, and that was her side of the conversation covered.

"God, she's like a leech, man! I don't know why you put up with it."

Marinette's ears perked up at Nino's words. From the sound of it he was walking right behind them, and if that were true, then—

"Lay off, man," said a quiet voice.

"I'm serious. She's annoying." Nino sighed. "Still, I suppose it's worth suffering that to go home early. Want to come over and hang out?"

There was a short pause, and then Adrien said, "I can't. My dad wants me home."

"Aw, man. Oh well, another time. We still have that picnic tomorrow, remember? Oh—hey, Alya!"

Alya paused in her storytelling and turned around, walking backwards through the hall. Marinette hurriedly turned as well, trying to replicate Alya's effortless switch.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"We still on for tomorrow?" Nino asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Of course we are," Alya said, looking insulted at the mere thought of cancellation. "Noon in the park. I'm not about to let some silly Akuma stop us from having a good time."

"Just checking," Nino said with a grin.

Marinette chanced a glance at Adrien only to find that he was already staring at her, eyes narrowed slightly. She stumbled on her own heel and would have fallen had Alya not swooped in and caught her.

"Thanks," Marinette mumbled, feeling her cheeks heating up.

"No problem." Alya looked amused. They all came to a stop near the front door as Marinette righted herself. "Why don't you focus on walking with your eyes forward, hm? You've already hurt yourself enough today."

"Hey, what happened to your face, Marinette?" Nino asked, suddenly noticing the injury.

"Tactful phrasing, Nino," Alya said.

"It's just a question!"

"I tripped," Marinette mumbled, conscious of Adrien's eyes on her. "While I was hiding."

"Tough luck," Nino said sympathetically.

Marinette hesitated before turning back to Adrien. "Hey, uh, thank you," she said, trying to inject some confidence into her words. It was tough when he was still staring at her like she was under a microscope. "For going after me. I mean, for trying to look for me. Alya told me that you left because—well, part of the reason you left was because you were searching for me, and I just wanted to say thank you. I mean, just because you didn't find me doesn't mean I'm not grateful. Oh, that came out wrong! I just wanted to say—thanks," she finished, biting her lip and dropping her gaze to the ground.

Yet another amazing speech by Marinette. Could this day get any worse?

After a moment Adrien said, "No problem."

Alya tugged on Marinette's arm. "We'll see you two tomorrow," she said. "There are some croissants we need to go eat, and I need you to help me update the Ladyblog. Could I use you as a source for my post? Someone who had an outsider's look at the battle?"

"I didn't see anything," Marinette mumbled.

"Still! You have a battle wound, the fans will eat you up. Bye Nino, Adrien."

"Bye," Nino said in amusement, watching as Alya dragged Marinette out the doors and down the steps.

When they were safely outside Marinette said for the second time that day, "I'm a complete mess."

"Don't, Marinette," Alya said. "It was a bad day for everyone. Tomorrow things are going to go much smoother, I promise you."

Marinette smiled despite herself. "Thanks, Alya."

"Don't sweat it, girl," she said. "Now come on—I wasn't kidding about those croissants."

 **A/N: Please leave a review telling me what you think! Thanks!**


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